


a suitcase under each one of my eyes

by pettigrace



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dogs, Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Loss, Self-Doubt, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 11:44:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4624137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pettigrace/pseuds/pettigrace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After finding out that Wells is probably the murderer of his mother, Barry is not sure what to think. He starts to doubt everything but Eddie is there to help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a suitcase under each one of my eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to [oathofsilence](http://archiveofourown.org/users/oathofsilence/) for prompting this although the dog was barely involved, sorry

Barry hasn't been here in a way too long time. With his coma that's lasted for almost a whole year and then the whole issue with him becoming the Flash, fighting crime and trying to hide it from just _everyone_... The last time he's been here must've been at least two years ago.

He almost feels guilty about it, the only thing that kind of calms down his mind is that he has a good excuse, that he's been doing something that's right, that his mum would understand.

Coming here is almost like visiting her, it feels more personal than visiting her grave, here are memories and things he'd have loved to do with her, things that have been robbed from him. His mum has loved the sea, she's told him endless stories about what it's been like to walk along the beach in some small town at the west coast of France, he's hoped one day they'd be able to go there together, that his mum would be able to show him in person rather than just telling him about it, that he could experience the beauty together with her... but now what's left to him is a strip of sand on the side of Central Lake, something you can barely call a beach.

Today it's a windy day, dark clouds hanging up the sky, it's almost like it fits to his state of mind. There's nobody in sight, nobody wants to spend their time outside when it could start to rain any second, and Barry is thankful for this. He doesn't want to see anybody, he's here because of his mum and everything he's found out. He still can't believe it's been Wells who's killed her. How did he do it? This can't be possible, not the man he's admired for so long, not the man who's helped him become a hero... But everything leads to him, they have all the proof they need... just a plausible explanation, that's what missing.

Barry sighs and pulls his coat closer. He's looking into the water, his mind racing, trying to wrap itself around Wells as a suspect, when he sees something in the corner of his eye.

He turns his head and sees it's a dog, a rather small Golden Retriever actually, as far as he can judge. It's coming up to him, as if there's nothing it's aiming for but him, It's not like it's hunting him, it's not racing up to him like he's some kind of prey, so Barry stays calm and actually goes down on one knee to greet the dog appropriately.

“Hey, buddy.”, Barry says letting the dog smell his hands before he starts petting it. “Where did you come from, huh?”, he wonders, letting his eyes scan along the beach.

There's nobody in sight.

And suddenly, the dog brings its mouth up to his sleeve and pulls at it.

“Woah, what?”, Barry makes and tries to shove the dog away, careful enough not to rip his coat apart. It doesn't let go, though. “Come on, don't do that!”

The dog still holds on to him, pulls again, maybe even stronger than before.

“Do you wanna show me something?”

As an answer there's another pull and Barry sighs and gets up. He's leaning down while walking, doing his best to make a _dog_ comfortable while it's pulling him somewhere and again, he's glad nobody is around or else they'd laugh at him.

He follows the dog for a while and takes his time looking at it. It looks okay, fed enough, fur clean. It can't possibly be a stray dog, he thinks as he sees the collar around its neck. So either it ran away from home or the owner must be here somewhere.

After a few more yards he hears a familiar voice.

“Allen?”, Eddie asks and comes up to him, a leash in his hands.

“Uh. Eddie. Hi.”, Barry says and looks down at his sleeve. “You have a dog?”

“Not really.”, Eddie says and kneels down. His head is only a few inches from Barry's now. “Hey, Maze, let go. Come on.”, he says to the dog, trying to make his voice sound sweet, and puts the leash onto the collar. “He's from the shelter. I take him out sometimes, mostly when I need to think or some distraction.”

Finally, Maze lets go off Barry and he can stand up straight again, looking down at Eddie who's petting the dog.

“He's cute.”, Barry remarks.

“Yeah, I know, right?”, Eddie looks up at him with a grin. “So, where did he find you?”

“Uh,” Barry points into the direction he's come from. “Down there, a bit closer to the water.”

“He didn't interrupt you with anything, did he?”

Barry shakes his head. “I was just... thinking, you know?”

Eddie stands up again now as well. “This is about Wells, isn't it? I've been thinking about that a lot, too, ever since you told me. To think he's been this close to you all the time...”

“Well, it's not exactly obvious.”, Barry defends himself. He should be used to Eddie acting like he's the best cop around, but how could he think Barry should've known?

Eddie shakes his head, putting his hand onto Barry's arm. “I know that. I mean, he could've hurt you that entire time and _nobody_ would've guessed it. We all need to be more careful, especially you.”

Barry nods and looks into the water again. He knows everything Eddie's just said already, he knows that he can't trust Wells, that he can't even be sure whether to trust Caitlin and Cisco just yet, he knows that Wells is capable of more than he lets show, but he doesn't mind hearing it again from Eddie, it shows their new form of understanding, a new level of trust between them, clarifies that they're actually friends now despite how everything may have looked at first.

“You know, I used to come here with my mum.”, Barry suddenly says, he looks back at Eddie to see his reaction and when it's a small smile, he continues. “She loved to travel, especially Europe. She loved the sea. This is as close to it as I can get without letting the city unprotected.”

“Being the Flash sucks, doesn't it?”

“It feels good most of the time, I mean, you know what it feels like to protect people, to make a change, but sometimes it's...”

“Too much.”, Eddie finishes with a nod. “The station is getting used to the idea of supernatural stuff being out there, they're arming up. Soon they can stop metahumans as well and then you can get a break.”

“They aren't as fast as me, people could be hurt, they wouldn't—”

“Allen, we're only ever a minute later in place than you.”, Eddie reminds him. “You can't do _everything_.”

“We need to stop Wells.”, Barry says firmly. Nobody can do it but him, nobody would believe. Even if the police were to figure out a way to stop whatever Wells can do-- if he really is the Reverse-Flash, he's faster than _Barry_. How shall they stop someone who's faster than him, how shall normal people be faster than him?

“We will.”, Eddie says. “All of us together. I've got your back. We've got Joe and Caitlin and Cisco. Oliver Queen is only a phone call away, I'm sure. We'll all be there, Barry.”

Barry looks at him. He likes to believe that, he likes to believe that Cisco and Caitlin are on their side, that Oliver would be there, but if the phone calls with Felicity tell him anything, it's that Oliver's got big trouble of his own right now, possibly worse than anything before.

“It'll all turn out okay, you get that?”, Eddie puts a hand on his shoulder now, leaning his head forward so that Barry can't do anything but look into his eyes.

There's no doubt in them, Eddie really believes what he's saying, he's so optimistic... Eddie believes in him. He believes in the Flash, he believes in his team, he believes that _Barry_ is capable of fixing things.

And for now... he does, too.

“Thank you.”, Barry says and before he can stop himself, he's hugging Eddie, trying to show him how much this means without wasting any words.

For a second, Eddie doesn't do anything, he's just standing there, frozen in shock, but then he's curling his arm around Barry as well and rubs over his back. “Any time, partner.”

 


End file.
